UCLA Faculty To Vote On Ending State Funding Of MBA Program

UCLA faculty leaders are scheduled to decide Thursday whether the Anderson School of Management should end all reliance on state funding for its flagship master's degree program and instead rely on tuition and donations.

Supporters of the much-debated proposal for the full-time MBA program say it is a necessary reaction to declining state revenues. They contend that it will give administrators more flexibility, encourage more private donations and redirect about $8 million a year mostly in state funds to other campus divisions that are less able to gain financial independence.

Critics, however, allege that it is a dangerous move toward making UCLA operate more like a private college.

"There are strongly held feelings on both sides," said Andrew Leuchter, a psychiatry professor who is chairman of the UCLA faculty Senate. He said he could not predict the outcome of the closed-door vote by the Senate's140-member Legislative Assembly.﻿